EuroMillions gets even bigger and even better for UK players

The 10 operators of the blockbuster EuroMillions game today announced a range of exciting changes to make the mega-jackpot game even bigger and better for players. The changes, which are being introduced in September*, will mean:

bigger jackpots more often, with higher starting jackpots of £14 million** and more than twice as many jackpots of over £50 million a year

even more spectacular promotions, including:

even bigger promotional draws offering massive jackpots of around £100 million, and

new must-be-won pan-European raffle events – the European Millionaire Maker – the first of which is expected to take place at the end of October and will create an additional 25 millionaires

In addition to these community-wide changes, the 10 EuroMillions operators will be introducing a range of local enhancements. In the UK, the game will now make double the number of guaranteed UK millionaires:

there will be at least two guaranteed UK millionaires in every draw through the UK Millionaire Maker – that’s a minimum of 208 guaranteed UK millionaires a year, double the current number

there will be fantastic Mega Weeks at the end of every month, which will see amazing jackpots and even more UK players winning guaranteed £1 million prizes and luxury lifestyle experiences – on both Tuesdays and Fridays

To make all of these changes possible, the number of Lucky Stars from which players can choose will expand from 11 to 12. The cost per line will also change – in most countries the new price will be €2.50. In the UK, the cost per line will change to £2.50 to reflect all of the community-wide and UK-only enhancements.

Sally Cowdry, Consumer & Retail Director at Camelot, said: “EuroMillions has always captured the UK public’s imagination with its exhilarating jackpots and numerous multi-million pound winners – boosting returns to Good Causes in the process. It’s now time to re-energise the game and take it to the next level – and these fantastic enhancements will do just that, helping us to deliver even more for our players and UK Good Causes in the years to come.”

Tickets for the bigger, better EuroMillions game will go on sale on Saturday 24 September, with the first draw taking place on Tuesday 27 September*. To celebrate launch week, there will be a fantastic event happening on the Tuesday. And on Friday 30 September, there will be a huge jackpot of around £100 million up for grabs.

There will be an extensive campaign to keep consumers fully informed of the changes. In the meantime, with no immediate changes taking place, players can continue to play EuroMillions as normal – and hopefully join the 1,250 UK players who have become millionaires on the game since launch.

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* Subject to final regulatory approval** Based on current exchange rates

Camelot UK Lotteries Limited is the licensed operator of The National Lottery® and is committed to raising money for National Lottery Good Causes designated by Parliament. Camelot is not responsible for distributing or awarding these funds.

Each week, Camelot generates over £36 million for National Lottery-funded projects. In total, over £35 billion has now been raised and more than 490,000 individual grants have been made across the UK – an average of 150 lottery grants in every neighbourhood.

The National Lottery has so far awarded over £59 billion in prizes and created more than 4,250 millionaires or multi-millionaires since its launch in 1994.

EuroMillions is run by 10 operators across nine countries: the UK, France, Spain, Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal and Switzerland – and is the world’s biggest lottery in terms of sales.

The UK’s recent decision to leave the EU has no bearing on EuroMillions. EU membership is not a requirement to play EuroMillions (Switzerland is a non-EU country) – the agreement is between the 10 operators across nine European countries, not the governments.

As the EuroMillions jackpot is always calculated in Euros, UK winners (who are paid in sterling) are currently benefiting from even bigger wins because of the exchange rate.

The first EuroMillions draw took place on 13 February 2004 – to date, the game has created more than 1,250 millionaires in the UK.

Colin and Chris Weir banked a massive £161 million EuroMillions jackpot in July 2011 to become the UK’s – and Europe’s – biggest-ever lottery winners.

All of the Good Cause money raised in the UK from EuroMillions sales benefits people and communities the length and breadth of the UK.

Camelot runs the most cost-efficient major lottery in Europe, with around 4% of total revenue spent on operating costs.

The UK National Lottery is ranked at just 52nd in the world in terms of per capita spend, despite being the fifth largest lottery in the world by sales – clear evidence of Camelot’s longstanding commitment to being a responsible operator (Source: La Fleur’s 2016 World Lottery Almanac).